16 May 2012

This week end we decided to take a bus to Singapore to visit our grand daughter who Repin has not seen since last month. The journey was uneventful - we both slept like logs along the way , woken up once at the rest area for a 20 minute toilet break and then off again. Sophie had grown almost an inch since we last saw her -she's all legs now. She had never been plump except as a tiny infant and now as a little 4+ she's even skinnier. A rather picky eater,she loves Japanese food - sushi and seaweed being her favorites. Yesterday, the first thing she said when she saw us was "how long will you stay?" It makes me feel so sad because I think she wants to see more of us but because of Repin's and my busy schedule, we cannot do that.

Sophie is now learning the piano and can play a few tunes - Twinkle twinkle little star and Three Blind Mice as well as another piece I don't even know the title of. She was excited when I gave her the sticker book I had got her in London as well as some dresses and a Kath Kidston bag. In fact the sticker book was a great hit- I wish I had bought more. We immediately got to play with it and started doing the stickers as soon as I unpacked it.

We went to the Botanical Gardens the next evening - another example of Singapore's real love and appreciation for nature, as opposed to our Government's attitude of oh its okay to cut a few trees - after all what are trees compared to buildings? The Singapore Botanical Gardens is not just a place where you can actually learn and wonder and be fascinated - it's a beauty and it's so appreciated.There are so many people - walking their dogs, playing with children, just walking and enjoying the beauty of nature and also appreciate the fine arts - the Chinese Symphony Orchestra was giving a free concert and a lot of people were sitting there, just enjoying the music. How I wish we had such things here in Malaysia. Sometimes I feel that we are really such apes - philistines really.

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Sophia with her grand dad

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the Chinese Symphony orchestra at the gardens

After about an hour of walking and admiring the different plants they had we decided to call it a day and went off for tea at the nearby cafe. There are a number of eating places here catering to different styles and appetites - fine dining, canteen style and fast food. There are also places where we can have picnics as I can see some families having fun picnicking under the trees! A good day for all.